HTC One Targets iPhone Owners by Offering Data Migration from iPhone Backups

[a0me]

Originally Posted by extricated

I can't remember where, but I recall a post in these forums once about how limited choice sometimes results in greater product satisfaction - by keeping people from feeling overwhelmed by options.

There's been many studies that show that limited choice leads to increased happiness. And it apparently applies to life in general, not just products.

Having said that, you'll be happier if you're stuck with a limited number of great choices than if the only choice you have sucks.
Apple used to focus on offering the better choice, and I'm not sure this is still true.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by applesith

That's nice if I wanted to switch.

Agreed. This is a nice looking phone and the data migration is a nice perk by HTC.

[Belgrano]

Originally Posted by macUser2007

http://www.htc.com/uk/smartphones/htc-one/

There is a big green "Pre-Order" button there

Seems the UK gets to pre-order ahead of the US.

[macUser2007]

Originally Posted by Belgrano

Seems the UK gets to pre-order ahead of the US.

Yep.

But I signed up for the $100 rebate (on the US HTC site), since there is a good chance I'll just end up buying the One, to replace my Galaxy Nexus.

Even though I hate the proprietary overlays, like Sense (and the resulting lack of timely OS updates).

[Stuntman06]

I have always found that iOS devices seemed to be designed to not work nice with non-Apple devices. I had much difficulty when moving contacts and a ring tone from my wife's old phone to her new iPhone last year. All other times where I or my wife switched phones, even when the phones are of a different OS, it has always been very easy to move things like contacts and ring tones.

HTC is making sure that whatever phone you used to use, converting to an HTC One will be simple. I don't think that HTC I specifically targeting iPhone users. They want users of any phone to switch and are ensuring the transition is smooth regardless of which phone you used to use. Switching from a non-iPhone is likely going to be simple enough that many people can do without too much trouble.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by iPusch

I only care about my apps!
Unless they won't come up with an idea to transfer them to a new phone I won't change.

That's the genius of a proprietary OS. If you can get customers to invest in it, their investment becomes worthless if they ever leave the platform.

Apple sells hardware, and uses software to do it.

And BTW - anything that you can get for ioS (that is, pretty much anything worth buying) is also available on Android and WinPhone.

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Originally Posted by baryon

I hope Apple doesn't change too much of this with iOS 7. I wish they made multi-tasking better but I sure don't want the home screen to change.

What if they had the alternative to keep the old-school "rows of icons" home screen, but added a regular, modern home screen as an option? Too confusing?

You can do that with android. Either use the nice customized screens with widgets, etc, or switch to the grid style less-usefull interface. It is up to the user.

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Originally Posted by ghettochris

I don't want my phone keeping up to date on the weather, stocks, Facebook, etc... burning data and battery when I don't care about them.

Are you aware that, unlike with Apple products, Android users have a choice of whether or not to have that stuff auto-updated?

You can use that stuff. You don't have to. Your device can be set up the way you want it to be.

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Originally Posted by extricated

Ditto.
I like your "spoon" analogy.
Prior to touch screens, the click wheel on the iPod was a near perfect implementation of simplistic controls.

Touch Screens existed long before the iPod.

[Nightarchaon]

Coming soon, iTunes update that changes how iPhone backups are stored making this impossible.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by macUser2007

I like having the ability to use different launchers also: GoLauncher, for instance can be made very simple and iOS-like.

That's the thing that made me initially dislike my iPhone. I was an old Palm OS guy, and I was used to being able to get cool software of every sort, including specialty app launchers.

I spent a lot of time at first with Apple Care, trying to get the damn thing to do simple stuff, like not have all the icons on all the pages "snap to grid", so I'd be able to tell at a glance which page of icons I was on. Every time, the answer was "you can't do that".

So I asked about alternative launchers, given that Springboard was so dumbed down and incapable of the simplest of the sorts of things I was used to (what? You can't substitute icons? WTF? What? You can't change the label under the icon? WTF?").

The people at Apple Care didn't even understand my question. The supervisors were at a loss. "But that's iOS!" "No, Springboard is just an app that runs under ios. I want another app launcher instead of springboard" "Sorry, but that is impossible".

I liked my iPhone. for about 2 days. Then I realized just how dumbed-down the damn thing was, compared ot Palm Pilots of a decade earlier.

[chadua]

Moving data between phones has consistently been the most awful part of getting a new phone. I hope all the manufacturers can work out a better method of data migration.

[joemod]

Originally Posted by dexx0008

One last comment: i wish i didn't have to worry about battery life with my iphone. with my ipad there is plenty of juice and i never worry about it lasting, too much obsession with thin on apples part. An iphone5 with 4s thickness made of aluminum with large battery would have been fantastic.

Just a note. You are comparing two completely different things. iPhone's battery is drained mostly from the callular usage. That's why iPad has far better battery performance. Try turning airplane mode on in your iPhone and check how slower battery is drained.

[extricated]

Originally Posted by iGrip

Touch Screens existed long before the iPod.

No doubt.
Perhaps I should have phrased it differently:
"Prior to adapting a touch screen, the click wheel on the iPod was a near perfect implementation of simplistic controls on an MP3 player."

My point, in context, was that the click wheel worked very well for many years (and still does). No need to keep making interface tweaks just for the sake of change - or to give the impression of innovation.

[Keane16]

Originally Posted by iGrip

That's the thing that made me initially dislike my iPhone. I was an old Palm OS guy, and I was used to being able to get cool software of every sort, including specialty app launchers.

I spent a lot of time at first with Apple Care, trying to get the damn thing to do simple stuff, like not have all the icons on all the pages "snap to grid", so I'd be able to tell at a glance which page of icons I was on. Every time, the answer was "you can't do that".

So I asked about alternative launchers, given that Springboard was so dumbed down and incapable of the simplest of the sorts of things I was used to (what? You can't substitute icons? WTF? What? You can't change the label under the icon? WTF?").

The people at Apple Care didn't even understand my question. The supervisors were at a loss. "But that's iOS!" "No, Springboard is just an app that runs under ios. I want another app launcher instead of springboard" "Sorry, but that is impossible".

I liked my iPhone. for about 2 days. Then I realized just how dumbed-down the damn thing was, compared ot Palm Pilots of a decade earlier.

At least you tried it. Wasn't for you. You moved on. Good job.

For me it's the exact opposite.

- I want the icons to snap to grid - it's one of the first changes I make in Finder on OS X. [as an aside, if you have a lot of apps which it sounds like you did, you would probably have been much more productive using Spotlight to find your apps].
- I don't need to change the names under icons (why would anyone need that? Serious question, as for me anyway, I hardly ever even notice the text under folders and icons, the icon itself is enough to find what I need, however I'm sure you aren't trolling and have a very real reason for this need).
- What exactly did you want from an alternative 'app launcher' instead of the Springboard? Did you even research the iPhone and it's features/capabilities before you bought it? 30 seconds on Google and you could've found out this information. Saved yourself and Apple Care's time. And started enjoying your non-iPhone device much sooner. Maybe something to consider before your next phone, actually, any purchase...
- Palm Pilots, WinMo devices were all horrible experiences for me. Customisable, tweak friendly, hackable 'til the cows came home. But the experience was horrible. As was my N95 - my last phone before I got an iPhone. I've never looked back. The N95 did everything my (1st gen) iPhone could and more - but it was so poor at most of it's tasks (the camera was fantastic for its time though), slow laggy UI, clunky hardware, maps which were horrible etc.

And finally if anyone really needed these things they're all available via jailbreak (although I'm not jailbroken so can't give examples).


Regarding the article, data migration is a nice step from HTC. But not sure how much use it will get.

The Blinkfeed stuff is no use at all to me. I can't stand all this 'live updating' stuff, it's so distracting. But I know some people are big fans. I'm glad Apple have kept it nice and simple, lots of alternatives for those that think iOS is stale.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by Keane16

- I want the icons to snap to grid - it's one of the first changes I make in Finder on OS X. [as an aside, if you have a lot of apps which it sounds like you did, you would probably have been much more productive using Spotlight to find your apps].

That's what they all say. Use spotlight. My answer is that a text-based interface is no cure for a defective GUI. Just make the GUI work well. Text based interfaces are a step backwards, IMO.

Originally Posted by Keane16

- I don't need to change the names under icons (why would anyone need that? Serious question, as for me anyway, I hardly ever even notice the text under folders and icons, the icon itself is enough to find what I need, however I'm sure you aren't trolling and have a very real reason for this need).

I had a lot of icons i would have wanted to label better (for me). One specific one really bugged me. It was the Boston Business Journal's app. The icon was labeled "Boston".

To me, an icon called Boston means the Boston.com (Boston Globe newspaper) website. But no, the icon labeled Boston on my iPhone brought me to the BBJ, which is what everybody called the Boston Business Journal. I wanted the icon for the BBJ to be labeled BBJ. I wanted the icon for Boston.com to be labeled Boston.

Simple, eh? Easy peasey. Basic stuff.

But no. Unlike every other GUI OS I have ever used in my life, it is impossible in iOS. Not difficult and ungainly, requiring excess steps to accomplish. Not as good as that, but instead, totally and completely impossible. I find that unacceptable.

Originally Posted by Keane16

- What exactly did you want from an alternative 'app launcher' instead of the Springboard?

On my Sony Clie I had several different app launchers. Of course, I used my favorite one on a daily basis, and only sometimes used the others.

One of them had really cool icons and themes and stuff and looked just great, but it didn't have many features. If you took away the ability to change icons and change themes, etc., it would have been something like the app launcher in iOS - very, very basic.

One gave you huge amounts of information, like where the app was stored (on the memory card or in the machine), with various default views and lists and alternatives and things. That one would tell you, for example, all of the files that were associated with the app, so you could manipulate them separately. I rarely used that one - it was too much information for daily use.

The one I liked had categories of icons, much like folders. You could put your most-used ones on the main page, and access a drop-down list of (self-made) categories like eBooks, Utilities, or whatever. On my 3GS, I couldn't even put the damn icons in folders! All I could do was wade through page after page of icons.

There were a bunch of app launchers for PalmOS. Some looked really cool, some worked really well, and some had lots of information and features.

Originally Posted by Keane16

Did you even research the iPhone and it's features/capabilities before you bought it? 30 seconds on Google and you could've found out this information. Saved yourself and Apple Care's time. And started enjoying your non-iPhone device much sooner. Maybe something to consider before your next phone, actually, any purchase...

If you recall, at the time, the iPhone was considered SOTA. I had heard, before I bought it, that it was "elegant" and "easy to use". I did not fully appreciate the fact that what these phrases meant was "totally dumbed down". And indeed, had I not been used to PalmOS, I wouldn't have realized just how bad it was. And to be fair, the iPhone had a lot of great things about it too.

But the basic user interface sucked really bad. That surprised the hell out of me. And newer versions of iOS are better now.

And BTW, I enjoy my Galaxy S3 is just fine.

[MrDc2]

Smart move, HTC.

[Gigaman]

I see no legitimate reason switch to this phone, let alone any android device, but I HAVE to say, that's a good design. Best I've seen in a while excluding the iPhone line.

[macUser2007]

Originally Posted by iGrip

...
I had a lot of icons i would have wanted to label better (for me). One specific one really bugged me. It was the Boston Business Journal's app. The icon was labeled "Boston".

To me, an icon called Boston means the Boston.com (Boston Globe newspaper) website. But no, the icon labeled Boston on my iPhone brought me to the BBJ, which is what everybody called the Boston Business Journal. I wanted the icon for the BBJ to be labeled BBJ. I wanted the icon for Boston.com to be labeled Boston.

Simple, eh? Easy peasey. Basic stuff...

I agree with much of what you said (except for the Galaxy S3 - I will not buy a Samsung phone again, because of the (tacky) proprietary overlays, resulting in slow OS updates and after a couple of rounds, NO updates at all - so one is left to root and rely on the kindness of strangers for often buggy ROMs).

That aside, the icon art change and label change should be a no-brainer. I change half the art on my Galaxy Nexus -- some icons are just ugly to me, or do not go well when next to each other. I have changed labels much less often than icons, but it is frustrating that it cannot be easily done in iOS.

It is also frustrating that something as integral and personal as a keyboard cannot be changed in iOS. Because of that, there is practically no development or innovation on that front for iOS, while in Android there is a plethora of options, some far superior to the stock keyboards in either platform.

As to the jailbreaking argument:

First, why should the average user be put through it, just so they can get some basic features taken for granted on other platforms?

Second, I just jailbroke for the first time in two years (iPad 4) and the community is far less vibrant than it used to be - there is very little useful development on Cydia, other than a few copies of Android features (the multitasking launcher or a few widgets). This stagnation may be due to the greater difficulties and longer delays in jailbreaking new devices, but whatever the reason, basically, unless you want to steal $1 apps, there is little reason to jailbreak.

I get the feeling that some either don't know better, or simply burry their heads in the sand. iOS is falling behind.

The last few updates have been largely confined to effectively copying features from Android (the pull-down notifications in iOS 5, for instance, or folders in iOS 4). Even Siri was a copy of a number of "assistant" applications already available on Android, just with a bit deeper OS integration.

This is not just some rant by an Android fanboy. I like Apple. A lot. But the world is changing and even people like Wozniak are beginning to chime in:

Here is something from early 2012, even before Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) was released last June:

STEVE WOZNIAK: ANDROID HAS LEAPT AHEAD OF APPLE IN MANY WAYS

More ominously, from a practical standpoint, is what Ralf Rottmann, who founded the largest mobile development company in Germany, recently posted:

AN IPHONE LOVER'S CONFESSION: I SWITCHED TO THE NEXUS 4. COMPLETELY.

Dismissing such obvious warning signs is simply stupid, whether you are an Apple shareholder, iOS developer, Tim Cook, or simply a fanboy.

[Keane16]

Originally Posted by iGrip

<SNIP>

You made the right choice buddy. iOS isn't and probably will never be right for you. I can't read the future but I'm pretty certain that Apple will never implement most of your wants and needs.

I have no idea what you use your phone for. But you're clearly an advanced/extreme user that also likes to tweak, customise etc and you must have a lot of apps (judging by your need to read the names). I'm glad you found Android. It's perfect for your needs.

But I hope Apple doesn't go down that route. Things are great the way they are for me (and going off satisfaction surveys it seems the public are happy too). I don't have time to tinker. I don't want to apply themes. I don't want a bunch of live updating info on my home screen.

I don't think the iOS GUI is "defective". It's a solution. Just one of many possibilities to a mobile GUI. It doesn't work for you. That doesn't mean it's defective.

I'm sure it bugged you (it really shouldn't) but renaming that app wouldn't do a thing to improve your productivity. Surely after you knew the icons for BBJ and Boston.com you realised which one was which? I see your issue. And to some it must be infuriating. But I've never worried myself with the text label (hell if you removed all the labels under the icons I'd be fine). I don't have that many apps. Probably 70. So I don't use Spotlight myself, but if I did have hundreds I would. Searching is my go to method for launching stuff on Windows and Mac - neither of these platforms have defective GUIs. It's also how I find what I need amongst the billions on web pages.

SOTA (my new thing for today!). It was indeed state of the art. But obviously didn't fit your needs. State of the art has nothing to do with specific features or use cases. Regardless of SOTA, you really must research before buying anything. It's foolish not to.

I'm glad your S3 is working well.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by Keane16

You made the right choice buddy. iOS isn't and probably will never be right for you.

I suspect that you may be right.

[alterian]

Originally Posted by Nightarchaon

Coming soon, iTunes update that changes how iPhone backups are stored making this impossible.

Yeah i can see that coming, Some itunes server encryption thing.

Im planning to make the jump, ive gotten tired of apple and the Cat and mouce JB thing. Not knocking the phone love it when it has JB but without it OS is boring and plaing....gay.

[Nightarchaon]

Originally Posted by alterian

Yeah i can see that coming, Some itunes server encryption thing.

Im planning to make the jump, ive gotten tired of apple and the Cat and mouce JB thing. Not knocking the phone love it when it has JB but without it OS is boring and plaing....gay.

Having spent 2 years now on android, im going back to iPhone this year, but, i will be sticking with Jailbroken iOS..

My ideal iPhone would be an Andorid Galaxy Note 2 handset running a jailborken iOS... sadly never going to happen

[dexx0008]

Originally Posted by joemod

Just a note. You are comparing two completely different things. iPhone's battery is drained mostly from the callular usage. That's why iPad has far better battery performance. Try turning airplane mode on in your iPhone and check how slower battery is drained.

really late reply but...

I wasn't debating that phone drains battery faster. There are many reasons, cpu speed, screen size differences, etc, etc.

The ipad has a huge battery which accounts for it lasting so long in the device. My point was that apple chose to make the iphone 5 thinner rather than using the extra space for a larger battery to make the phone last longer. I do turn airplane mode on when gaming but that doesn't offset the battery hit

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Originally Posted by Cuban Missles

This is a well thought out and written opinion. And it gives me some things to ponder. However, I do not think a lot of people will be jailbreaking or rooting their phones. Sure those on this site might, but the majority of phone users dont know that much about techy stuff to be capable. This leads me to the thought that in the end for the majority of the non-techy folk, a well integrated eco-system will win out. We can debate here on this feature or that one between this phone and that. But, right now Apple is way ahead in terms of a full eco-system that fully integrates. HTC breaching the wall with their sync, and Google with the open Air-play may be more cause for concern than anything else.

In your case it will be interesting to see how you do with all your hardware being inside the wall and your phone outside. I was that way, and even though I consider myself a techy, finally gave up and moved everything inside the wall. I have more free time in the evenings now and that is all that matters to me.

really late reply but i didn't see it.

I agree the apple ecosystem is second to none and this will definitely be an interesting test for me with my phone being on the outside. I don't think i could recommend android to my wife. Myself, I'll be fine. I'll miss taskpaper and don't have a perfect solution for integrating that to my macbook. I will probably miss the convenience of using imessages on my laptop despite it not always working perfectly.

The most popular apps seem to be hitting both android and ios. I don't want to buy things twice so depending on the app I'll have to decide which device i want it on. No worse than the non-universal apps in app store I suppose. I should be able make it work without too much pain when looking how i use my current iPhone.

Apple will probably suck me back eventually but the time has come to test the waters/competition for a bit.

The htc has been getting pretty good reviews so i feel pretty good about trying it. -cheers